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Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Key Examples in Love's Labor's Lost
Act 1, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Costard's Speech:
As Costard is being arrested for being spotted with Jacquenetta, he offers a few remarks on his condition to the members of the court who are watching. In an instance of dramatic irony, Costard speaks in malapropisms:
And therefore welcome the sour cup of prosperity. Affliction may one day smile again, and till
then, sit thee down, sorrow.
Related Themes:
Act 4, Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Dark is Light:
Dumaine, Longaville, and the king mock Berowne’s interest in Rosaline. In so doing, Dumaine in particular employs verbal irony:
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To look like her are chimney-sweepers black.LONGAVILLE
And since her time are colliers counted bright.KING
And Ethiopes of their sweet complexion crack.DUMAINE
Dark needs no candle now, for dark is light.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Longaville's Speech:
In this scene, Berowne, the king, and Longaville each admit their feelings for their respective love interests. They each do so believing that they are alone. In a moment of dramatic irony, Longaville wonders aloud whether he is the only person to have broken his vow:
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Am I the first that have been perjured so?BEROWNE, aside
I could put thee in comfort: not by two that I know.
Thou makest the triumviry, the corner-cap of society, The shape of love’s Tyburn, that hangs up simplicity.
Related Themes:
Act 5, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Jack hath not Jill:
After the death of the French king, the women immediately begin packing and preparing to return home. The comedy thus ends in a funeral rather than a wedding, contrary to the expectations of both the audience and the characters. Berowne sums up this instance of situational irony:
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Our wooing doth not end like an old play.
Jack hath not Jill. These ladies’ courtesy
Might well have made our sport a comedy.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The Disguises:
In perhaps the most explicit instance of dramatic irony in the play, the four noblewomen disguise themselves as one another and confuse the noblemen, which is what makes interactions like the following so confusing to the characters:
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One word in secret.PRINCESS
Let it not be sweet.BEROWNE
Thou grievest my gall.PRINCESS
Gall! Bitter.BEROWNE
Therefore meet.
Related Themes:
